Roman Austin Car Accident and Personal Injury in Clearwater, Florida serves local clients with a combination of character, experience, and trust. Since 1986, this neighborhood law firm has supported the community through youth sports, local school programming, and the Not Just a Cyclist Safety campaign.
Roman Austin Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers, located in Clearwater, FL, provide clients with 30 years of knowledge gained from working blue-collar jobs, a solid legal education, and local board certification as a Civil Trial Lawyer. Mark S. Roman founded the group with his wife Carol-Lynn Roman in Tampa Bay and continues to work across Florida to serve local car accident victims alongside partners John C. Austin and Miles Hickman.
Together, the group serves area car accident victims with exceptional Florida legal knowledge and experience working as defense attorneys in the insurance industry. The firm continues to grow and serve injured people and their families throughout Florida.
Roman’s advice for lawyers looking to build a client base includes the skills and traits important for legal professionals practicing in Florida.
Building Professional Legal Experience
Every Florida lawyer should consider getting board certified as a Civil Trial Lawyer. Certification requires passing an exam along with an evaluation from peers and judges. Being certified not only prepares lawyers for trial, but it also lays the foundation for building client trust. When practicing in Florida, lawyers need to:
- Understand Florida’s fault rules and the implications when a client is found more than 50% at fault. Early evidence gathering becomes critical.
- Learn how insurance defense attorneys operate from the inside. In the firm, John Austin has several years of experience working as a claims litigation counsel for State Farm. Similarly, Miles Hickman leverages his experience managing insurance claims to better serve clients by fully understanding the insurance process and knowing when to accept a solid offer.
- Understand all of Florida’s laws on reporting injuries so that the 14-day PIP deadline is never missed. PIP provides medical coverage for car accident victims. Don’t risk losing a client’s no-fault benefits before a personal injury case gets started.
- Build community trust by active participation and direct support for the community. For example, Roman-Austin’s Not Just a Cyclist Road Safety Campaign and time served as the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, along with volunteer work, are more important and have a longer-lasting effect than any ad campaign.
Important Traits for Lawyers Serving Clients
There are a number of traits that Roman believes have been instrumental in his work as a lawyer that are key to successfully serving clients. These include
- Persistence
- Discipline
- Building strong partnerships
- Board Certification as a Civil Trial Lawyer holds more value than what school a lawyer attends.
- Understanding how to balance the theater of a large case with the discipline of legal proof and evidence.
What makes the Roman Austin Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyer group unique is the understanding of what injuries actually cost clients. Roman’s experience working through college while holding multiple blue-collar jobs translates into a tangible, realistic understanding of how lost wages and injuries affect clients’ lives.
The firm prepares for trial in person to maximize the benefits of shared experience and legal knowledge. They leverage technology to pull data for medical billing and PIP documentation to support a case. Base trial preparation and the valuation of settlement offers are solely based on the shared experience of the partners.
Final Thoughts
The Roman Austin firm recovers fair and just injury settlements through hard work and dedication. The firm’s clients benefit from experience working within the insurance industry as well as from education and certification in Florida.
Florida’s laws continue to change, including a move to a modified comparative negligence model. The impact of clients receiving a percentage of fault and accident compensation values will be interesting in the next few years. The firm plans to continue tackling each unique case with fair compensation so clients can focus on recovery and rebuilding their lives. 